Baker v. Carr

The pivotal U.S. Supreme Court case Baker v. Carr (1962) decided that questions concerning redistricting (attempts to alter the configuration and delineation of voting districts) are not simply political questions but come under the purview of the courts. With this decision federal courts were allowed to intervene in and decide reapportionment cases.

The constitution of Tennessee required that legislative districts be redrawn every ten years in accord with the federal census, in order to configure districts of substantially equal population. Charles Baker, a Republican in the...